AlternativeRealities Software Blog

Calling Mac users
20-Nov-2008

All systems are go. The mac edition of AutoWallpaper 4 has now entered a beta state. So if there are any AutoWallpaper users out there with a Mac running OS X 10.5 or better then please drop me an email with information about your system such as ram, number of monitors, system version etc, (support[at]arsoftware.co.uk) and you may be included in the beta test.

My internal tests have the multi-monitor routines running marvellously.

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Return of the Mac
07-Nov-2008

There will be 1 more small update for the Windows Edition of AutoWallpaper 4 before I knuckle down and start the process of adapting the codebase for the Mac Edition. The update will include the ability to force an update on a single category rather than all of them (the option for performing a full update will still be available).

The current estimate for the release of the Mac Edition is pre-Christmas 2008. I can't see it getting delayed beyond that. Of course all of this is rather dependent on the OS specific coding working correctly. All of my tests over the last month have indicated that everything is going to work for multi-monitor support, but you never know. My Mac (G4) seems to keep forgetting which graphics card drivers it should be using and it ends up starting up with completely corrupted displays. Pesky thing.

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A new multi-monitor taskbar and odd configuration woes
27-Oct-2008

A certain type of monitor configuration is causing me a little grief at the moment. It probably only affects a very small minority of users but that is more than I would like. Basically if you have a secondary display that is centrally aligned vertically and is taller than your primary monitor then AutoWallpaper cannot create a suitable wallpaper image for the secondary display. However, if your taller monitor is aligned at the top or bottom of the primary then everything will work fine. At the moment I'm unsure as to how Windows handles the wallpaper for such configurations. I am investigating it but if there is anyone out there that knows how these types of wallpaper are constructed please let me know.

Now, on to something else. I'm usually on the look out for new applications designed to help multi-monitor users and in the past I have used Ultramon and Multi-Monitor Taskbar Pro, but a new version of an old application has really impressed me. Actual Window Manager 5.2 has a multi-monitor task bar that beats the others hands down. It will add an extra taskbar to each of your monitors (which you can place at the bottom, top or side of the monitor), but what really sets this above the others is the inclusion of the startmenu button (vista or XP). It also replicated the Alt-Tab task switcher on all the displays. If this is something you've been looking for then I strongly suggest taking a look and trying it out.

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The settling storm
22-Oct-2008

The initial glut of updates for AutoWallpaper 4 is now slowing nicely as I eliminate the last of the bugs. It's been a bit of a trying time but I'm pleased with the development. It is always difficult to see something you've worked extremely hard on and for so long have a few undiscovered bugs in it's first few weeks.

But now is the time to start looking forward. Once the last issues are sorted I will be turning my attention to the Mac Edition compilation. As I've mentioned in a previous post I am aiming for a December release, and as with the PC version I will be asking for beta testers. So, if you have a Mac running OS 10.5 or newer then please drop me an email and I will consider you for beta access.

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Thick and fast
06-Oct-2008

AutoWallpaper 4 updates have been coming thick and fast over the last 2 weeks but it is definately slowing down now. The plus side of all this is that AutoWallpaper 4 has become much more stable, many bugs have been quashed and various tweaks have been made to certain features.

The screensaver has also had a fair few tweaks, and one of which is the removal of the 'scale up' option. I didn't want to remove it but the compiler I'm using for it seems to have problems with memory leaks and the resizing of images. So, for now, it had to go. This isn't a problem if your images are already sized correctly for your desktop though.

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Oh what a BSOD
22-Sep-2008

Well it's been a rather timultuous few days. On Friday evening my PC decided for some strange reason that it was going to blue screen just after log on for no apparent reason. 3 hours later I had worked out that it was being caused by a recent upgrade to Kaspersky Internet Security Suite 2009. After uninstalling that everything was back up and running. It had been working fine up and til Friday.

I have since installed Comodo Internet Security and that seems to be working very nicely.

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AutoWallpaper 4 released
20-Sep-2008

It's finally here. AutoWallpaper 4 Windows Edition has been released. Both my main website (this one) and the AutoWallpaper website have been updated and everything is ready to roll.

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We are a go
18-Sep-2008

A quick mid week update for those of you who are keen to get your hands on AutoWallpaper 4. The final release candidate was sent to beta testers last night and I have every confidence that I will be able to update the website and release the shiny new version to the masses this weekend.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the beta testers for their diligent work at find the bugs in the software, and special thanks to 'Mike M' who really pulled out all the stops to help me fix a number of irritating issues.

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